February 2
Events * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony. * 962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years. *1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king of Burgundy. *1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda. *1207 – Terra Mariana, comprising present-day Estonia and Latvia, is established. *1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer's Cross is fought in Herefordshire, England. *1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina. *1542 – Portuguese forces under Cristóvão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hill fort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente. *1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated. *1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. *1848 – Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed. * 1848 – California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco. *1868 – Pro-Imperial forces captured Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burned it to the ground. *1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed. *1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed. *1899 – The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne. *1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria. *1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City. *1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia. * 1920 – France occupies Memel. *1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published. *1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race. *1933 – Working as maids, two sisters Christine and Léa Papin murder their employer's wife and daughter in Le Mans, France. The case is the subject of a number of French films and plays. *1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated. *1935 – Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine. * 1942 – The Osvald Group is responsible for the first, active event of anti-Nazi resistance in Norway, to protest the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling. *1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last German troops in the city. *1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. *1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda. * 1971 – The international Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran. *1972 – The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday. *1976 – The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada. *1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation. *1982 – Hama massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama. *1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution. *1989 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul. *1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela. *2000 – First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments. *2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men's singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks. *2007 – The worst flooding in Indonesia in 300 years begins. *2012 – The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 300 people missing. Births *450 – Justin I, Byzantine emperor (d. 527) *1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276) *1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513) *1457 – Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian and author (d. 1526) *1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher and historian (d. 1574) *1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583) *1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565) *1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653) *1613 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary and saint (d. 1649) *1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish author and hymn-writer (d. 1679) *1650 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730) * 1650 – Nell Gwyn, English actress (d. 1687) *1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732) *1695 – William Borlase, English geologist and archaeologist (d. 1772) *1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German author and critic (d. 1766) *1711 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (d. 1794) *1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German organist and composer (d. 1785) *1717 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790) *1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French general and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1838) *1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1835) *1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1856) *1802 – Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist and academic (d. 1887) *1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (d. 1862) *1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist and illustrator (d. 1884) * 1829 – William Stanley, English engineer and philanthropist (d. 1909) *1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and hydrologist (d. 1912) *1842 – Julian Sochocki, Polish-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1927) *1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet and playwright (d. 1921) *1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican illustrator and engraver (d. 1913) *1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American journalist and politician, 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915) *1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949) *1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and academic (d. 1927) *1872 – Clara Butt, English singer (d. 1936) *1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian composer (d. 1925) * 1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German politician and diplomat, 13th German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1956) *1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (d. 1962) *1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947) *1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944) * 1882 – James Joyce, Irish author and poet (d. 1941) *1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author and screenwriter, created Zorro (d. 1958) *1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet and author (d. 1950) *1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975) * 1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933) *1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (d. 1952) *1890 – Charles Correll, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1972) *1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959) *1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1974) * 1893 – Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian soldier and politician (d. 1924) *1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983) * 1895 – Robert Philipp, American painter (d. 1981) *1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980) *1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson's (d. 1972) *1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player and manager (d. 1988) *1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist and educator (d. 1987) *1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966) *1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997) *1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-American author and philosopher (d. 1982) *1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976) *1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964) *1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997) *1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian economist and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2004) *1915 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli politician and diplomat, 1st Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002) * 1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (d. 2005) * 1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (d. 2014) *1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1985) *1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam *1918 – Hella Haasse, Indonesian-Dutch author (d. 2011) *1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano and actress (d. 2012) * 1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German footballer and manager (d. 1999) *1922 – James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2002) *1923 – Jean Babilée, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2014) * 1923 – James Dickey, American poet and author (d. 1997) * 1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress and producer (d. 1988) * 1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager * 1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist and author *1924 – Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982) *1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014) *1926 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France *1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991) * 1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012) *1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player and engineer (d. 2013) * 1928 – A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American judge, author, and activist (d. 1998) *1929 – George Band, English engineer and mountaineer (d. 2011) * 1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014) * 1929 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015) *1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch lawyer, jurist, and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands * 1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993) * 1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician * 1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author *1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor *1933 – M'el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012) * 1933 – Tony Jay, English-American actor and singer (d. 2006) * 1933 – Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Cuban bassist and composer (d. 2009) * 1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese general and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma *1935 – Evgeny Velikhov, Russian physicist and academic * 1936 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 1991) *1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player and coach * 1937 – Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer and politician, President of Panama (d. 2015) * 1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest, British journalist, poet, and critic * 1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist *1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport * 1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995) *1939 – Mary-Dell Chilton, American chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology * 1939 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014) *1940 – Alan Caddy, English guitarist and producer (d. 2000) * 1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (d. 2008) * 1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football player and coach * 1940 – David Jason, English actor, director, and producer *1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist *1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor * 1944 – Ursula Oppens, American pianist and educator *1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic *1946 – John Armitt, English engineer and businessman * 1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Malian academic and politician, 3rd President of Mali * 1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (d. 2009) *1947 – Greg Antonacci, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter * 1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (d. 2009) *1948 – Ina Garten, American chef and author * 1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer * 1948 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (d. 1973) *1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish businessman and philanthropist * 1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996) *1950 – Libby Purves, English journalist and author * 1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler *1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach *1952 – John Cornyn, American lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas * 1952 – Rick Dufay, French-American guitarist and songwriter * 1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea * 1952 – Ralph Merkle, American computer scientist and academic *1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013) *1954 – Christie Brinkley, American model and actress * 1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier and actor * 1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player *1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author * 1955 – Bob Schreck, American author * 1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress *1956 – Adnan Oktar, Turkish theorist and author *1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013) *1962 – Philippe Claudel, French author, director, and screenwriter * 1962 – Luke Johnson, English businessman *1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (d.1996) * 1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player * 1963 – Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia * 1963 – Stephen McGann, English actor *1964 – Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015) *1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer * 1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist *1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player and coach * 1966 – Robert DeLeo, American bass player, songwriter, and producer * 1966 – Michael Misick, Caicos Islander politician, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands *1967 – Artūrs Irbe, Latvian ice hockey player and coach * 1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese general *1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player and sportscaster * 1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player and coach *1969 – Valeri Karpin, Estonian-Russian footballer and manager *1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress, singer, and screenwriter *1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer and sportscaster (d. 2014) * 1971 – Jason Taylor, Australian rugby player and coach * 1971 – Hwang Seok-jeong, South Korean actress *1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player *1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach * 1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress and singer *1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian ice hockey player * 1975 – Donald Driver, American football player * 1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer *1976 – Ryan Farquhar, Northern Irish motorcycle racer * 1976 – James Hickman, English swimmer * 1976 – Ana Roces, Filipino actress *1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress * 1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer *1978 – Eden Espinosa, American actress and singer * 1978 – Annabel Ellwood, Australian tennis player * 1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager *1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver * 1979 – Klaus Mainzer, German rugby player *1980 – Angela Finger-Erben, German journalist * 1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer *1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001) * 1981 – Emre Aydın, Turkish singer-songwriter *1982 – Sergio Castaño Ortega, Spanish footballer * 1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player * 1982 – Kan Mi-youn, South Korean singer, model, and host *1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player * 1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish heptathlete and jumper * 1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian ice hockey player * 1983 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer * 1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist *1984 – Brian Cage, American wrestler * 1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player *1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer *1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress and singer *1987 – Anthony Fainga'a, Australian rugby player * 1987 – Saia Fainga'a, Australian rugby player * 1987 – Mimi Page, American singer-songwriter and composer * 1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer * 1987 – Javon Ringer, American football player * 1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer * 1987 – Victoria Song, Chinese singer and actress (f(x}) *1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress *1989 – Southside, American record producer *1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer * 1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015) *1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer *1993 – Jake Cassidy, Welsh footballer * 1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer *1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer * 1995 – Aleksander Jagiełło, Polish footballer Deaths ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] * 619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop and saint *1124 – Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064) *1218 – Konstantin of Rostov (b. 1186) *1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216) *1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229) *1448 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1372) *1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief *1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian soldier and diplomat (b. 1478) *1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese daimyo (b. 1558) *1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer and educator (b. 1525) *1648 – George Abbot, English author and politician (b. 1603) *1660 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans (b. 1608) * 1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615) *1661 – Lucas Holstenius, German geographer and historian (b. 1596) *1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1594) *1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French admiral (b. 1610) *1704 – Guillaume de l'Hôpital, French mathematician and academic (b. 1661) *1712 – Martin Lister, English physician and geologist (b. 1639) *1714 – John Sharp, English archbishop (b. 1643) *1723 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist and physician (b. 1666) *1768 – Robert Smith, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1689) *1769 – Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693) *1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1713) *1804 – George Walton, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1749) *1904 – Ernest Cashel, American-Canadian criminal (b. 1882) * 1904 – William Collins Whitney, American financier and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1841) *1905 – Henri Germain, French banker and politician, founded Le Crédit Lyonnais (b. 1824) *1907 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (b. 1834) *1909 – Carlo Acton, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1829) *1913 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer (b. 1845) *1918 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer (b. 1858) *1919 – Julius Kuperjanov, Estonian lieutenant (b. 1894) *1925 – Antti Aarne, Finnish historian and academic (b. 1867) * 1925 – Jaap Eden, Dutch speed skater and cyclist (b. 1873) *1926 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general and politician (b. 1848) *1932 – Agha Petros, Assyrian general and politician (b. 1880) *1939 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (b. 1879) *1942 – Ado Birk, Estonian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1883) * 1942 – Daniil Kharms, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1905) * 1942 – Hugh D. McIntosh, Australian businessman (b. 1876) *1945 – Alfred Delp, German priest and philosopher (b. 1907) * 1945 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German economist and politician (b. 1884) * 1945 – Johannes Popitz, German lawyer and politician (b. 1884) *1948 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (b. 1870) * 1948 – Bevil Rudd, South African runner and journalist (b. 1894) *1950 – Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician and academic (b. 1873) *1952 – Callistratus of Georgia, Georgian patriarch (b. 1866) *1954 – Hella Wuolijoki, Estonian-Finnish author and politician (b. 1886) *1956 – Charley Grapewin, American actor and singer (b. 1869) * 1956 – Truxtun Hare, American football player and hammer thrower (b. 1878) * 1956 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b. 1876) *1957 – Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1890) *1962 – Shlomo Hestrin, Canadian-Israeli biochemist and academic (b. 1914) *1968 – Tullio Serafin, Italian conductor and director (b. 1878) *1969 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887) *1970 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (b. 1898) * 1970 – Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872) *1972 – Natalie Clifford Barney, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876) *1973 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian academic and politician, 9th Mayor of Ghent (b. 1902) *1974 – Imre Lakatos, Hungarian-English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1922) *1975 – Gustave Lanctot, Canadian historian and academic (b. 1883) *1979 – Jim Burke, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1930) *1979 – Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (b. 1957) *1980 – William Howard Stein, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911) *1983 – Sam Chatmon, American singer and guitarist (b. 1897) *1987 – Carlos José Castilho, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1927) * 1987 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist and screenwriter (b. 1922) *1988 – Marcel Bozzuffi, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929) *1989 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater and coach (b. 1951) * 1989 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (b. 1901) *1990 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (b. 1905) * 1990 – Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (b. 1934) *1992 – Bert Parks, American actor, singer, television personality; Miss America telecast presenter (b. 1914) *1993 – François Reichenbach, French director and screenwriter (b. 1921) *1995 – Thomas Hayward, American tenor and actor (b. 1917) * 1995 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player (b. 1909) * 1995 – Donald Pleasence, English-French actor (b. 1919) *1996 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (b. 1912) *1997 – Sanford Meisner, American actor and coach (b. 1904) *1998 – Haroun Tazieff, German-French geologist and cinematographer (b. 1914) *1999 – David McComb, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1962) *2002 – Paul Baloff, American singer-songwriter (b. 1960) * 2002 – Claude Brown, American author (b. 1937) *2003 – Lou Harrison, American composer and educator (b. 1917) *2004 – Bernard McEveety, American director and producer (b. 1924) *2005 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905) *2007 – Billy Henderson, American singer (b. 1939) * 2007 – Eric Von Schmidt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931) *2008 – Barry Morse, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1918) * 2008 – Katoucha Niane, Guinean model and author (b. 1960) *2011 – Edward Amy, Canadian general (b. 1918) * 2011 – Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926) *2012 – Frederick William Danker, American lexicographer and scholar (b. 1920) * 2012 – George Esper, American journalist and academic (b. 1932) * 2012 – Dorothy Gilman, American author (b. 1923) * 2012 – James F. Lloyd, American pilot and politician (b. 1922) *2013 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (b. 1961) * 2013 – John Kerr, American actor and lawyer (b. 1931) * 2013 – Chris Kyle, American soldier and sniper (b. 1974) * 2013 – Lino Oviedo, Paraguayan general and politician (b. 1943) * 2013 – Pepper Paire, American baseball player (b. 1924) *2014 – Gerd Albrecht, German conductor (b. 1935) * 2014 – Nicholas Brooks, English historian (b. 1941) * 2014 – Eduardo Coutinho, Brazilian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1933) * 2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1967) * 2014 – Werner Husemann, German soldier and pilot (b. 1919) *2015 – Joseph Alfidi, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1949) * 2015 – Dave Bergman, American baseball player (b. 1953) * 2015 – The Jacka, American rapper and producer (b. 1977) * 2015 – Andriy Kuzmenko, Ukrainian singer-songwriter (b. 1968) * 2015 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935) *2016 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1923) * 2016 – Marcus Turner, New Zealand singer-songwriter and television host (b. 1956) Holidays and observances * Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia) * Christian Feast Day: ** Cornelius the Centurion ** February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) * Constitution Day (Philippines) * Day of Youth (Azerbaijan) * Earliest day on which Shrove Monday can fall, while March 8 is the latest; celebrated on Monday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity), and its related observances: ** Bun Day (Iceland) ** Fastelavn (Denmark/Norway) ** Nickanan Night (Cornwall) ** Rosenmontag (Germany) * Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances: ** A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland) ** Celebration of Yemanja (Candomblé) ** Le Jour des Crêpes (France) ** Our Lady of Navigators (Brazil) ** Our Lady of the Candles (Filipino Catholics) ** Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain) * Groundhog Day (United States and Canada), and its related observances: **Marmot Day (Alaska) * Inventor's Day (Thailand) * World Wetlands Day (International) External links * BBC: On This Day * * Today in Canadian History Category:Days of the year Category:February